"What the hell is this land-for-peace deal? What land are we giving up?" one of the Black Tortoise Race higher-ups asked in confusion.
"Territory, naturally. In other words, the so-called main cities!" Xuan Shiba replied calmly.
"Damn it, I thought you had some brilliant idea. After all that beating around the bush, isn't it still the same thing?" an ill-tempered old tortoise snapped.
Xuan Shiba shook his head. "Please don't be hasty, my lords. We may be ceding land, but it won't be our race's land!"
"Our major ranked Xuan Cities cannot be lost, but if we use the main cities held by our subsidiary races to exchange for those four Xuan Cities, then aside from giving up Xuan Yi City, our race will suffer no real losses!"
The tortoises nearly short-circuited. They cautiously asked, "Use the main cities of our subsidiary races to exchange for our race's main cities?"
Xuan Shiba nodded. "Precisely. And since this is an exchange meant to quell Xu Kun's anger and show our respect, we must offer twice the number of main cities of the same grade. Only then can we rest easy!"
Twice as many?
The four cities from Xuan Two to Xuan Five were all Sky Grade main cities. Twice that meant eight cities. Wouldn't the races under them turn the world upside down?
One tortoise raised an objection along those lines. "Wouldn't that leave all our subsidiary races bitterly resentful? Is that really appropriate?"
"I think Eighteen's suggestion makes a great deal of sense," the newly appointed Tortoise Lord said coolly.
Xuan Shiba immediately fawned over him. "The Tortoise Lord is wise! In truth, using the main cities of our subsidiary races to exchange for our Xuan Cities has another deeper purpose beyond quelling Xu Kun's anger. It was only thanks